DESCRIPTION (Verbatim From Applicant's Abstract): Effective methods of preservation are irnportant for the remerging technology of tissue engineering. We recently demonstrated, for the first time, that vitrification can have a salutary effect on the cryopreservation of a complete tissue, rabbit jugular vein, which otherwise sustains significant injury from freezing. Restriction of the amount and size of ice crystal formation during cryopreservation can be achieved by promotion of amorphous solidification (vitrification) rather than crystallization In this Phase I SBIR proposal, the primary objective is to test the feasibility of employing vitrification for long-term storage of tissue engineered blood vessels (TEBV). The effects of vitrification and conventional cryopreservation involving ice formation will be assessed using biomechanical tests, cell viability assays and vascular physiology methods. If vitrification is shown to be feasible for storage of TEBVs, these studies will be extended to a Phase II SBIR proposal to include in vivo testing of the Duke University TEBVs and TEBVs being developed by other organizations. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Customers are tissue engineering, tissue processing and banking organizations, and companies supplying reagents and biological materials to research organizations. The tissue engineering industry addresses diseases and disorders associated with over $500 billion expended annually in the U.S. for health care costs.